Rendezvous in overtime
by Lolligaggin
Summary: If only he had a better catch then he wouldn't have been walking aimlessly in that hospital, with Ino cradled in his arms. Follow up to You Owe Me, but can be stand alone. NarutoXIno. AU.


Disclaimer:

A/n: This is an epilogue that I couldn't get out of my head for months. It can be a standalone story or the real last chapter to You Owe Me. It's four in the morning and I have classes in a few hours. Anyway I just want to say thanks for reading all of my stuff; it means a lot to me. Oh yeah, and a million thanks to my beta!

……………………

Sakura sighed, pulling off her mask with a harsh yank. The pallid surgical mask hung down like a necklace on her collarbone as she let her body sink onto the chair. _Boy, what a long day_. Her eyes shifted to the far end of the near empty hospital, at the hallway of darkness, where the dim lights could not etch closed doors.

This was far from a busy day for a Saturday, only a handful of patients and no tragedies. Even so, the event was as much favorable as it was strange. Sakura glanced at the medical gloves with little interest, pinching the tips of her fingers with her free hand. Frankly, she wasn't willing to take the rest of the day off. The idea of the partially vacant section of the medical center left her anxious to leave.

Before she could softly tug at the latex, before she could even pull at her hair tie she heard a faint cry from far into the distance into the abyss of the dark hallway in front of her. She blinked, attentive to the noise, tensing her arm in front of her as she awaited the scattered footsteps. Sakura then rolled her sleeves, nervous with excitement. Another konoha nin in distress and this was her chance to help. She expected the faces of her co-workers or of Tsunade-sama herself. Yet the figure in front of her came dashing forward, there were no echoes of stretchers or of any medical-nins, only the footsteps of Uzumaki Naruto as he came scurrying forth with a figure cradled in his arms.

"Naru-?"

"Please, Sakura—" he stammered, both of his feet came to a crashing halt. If not for his strength he would have dropped the person seemingly lifeless in his arms. There was a blanket rolled upon the figure, but the blotches of blood on both the cloth material and on Naruto's face was enough to scream "_Danger, danger_!" in Sakura's eyes.

Sakura swallowed her gasp, focusing much of her attention onto the lump of blankets in front of her. She was trained to be accustomed to such surprises, but never when it was a friend, it was seldom the same procedure when ties and bonds were involved. She then passed a momentary glare at his frightened face, at the way he swallowed something full in his dry mouth. His hair was tangled in a dirty mess; his clothes were drenched with sweat and blood. Amongst all, nothing could compare to the expression on his face, something seemingly close to lifeless fear.

"Sakura, please," his voice cracked, his throat was completely parched. He held the figure out in front of her. Sakura stared down at the legs that poked out of the tangled mess of blanket; attached to feet were shoes that were far too familiar.

Sakura could only widen her eyes. "What?" her voice left a sort of sick reverberation in her head, as though it were as hollow as the thoughts running through her.

"Sakura, please, Ino…" he bit his lip; his arms were shaking with fatigue. Sakura nodded almost instantaneously, latching her arms onto the motionless figure in front of her. She easily lifted the body off of Naruto's limbs, never losing her balance while doing so. Curious eyes of emerald bore into Naruto, in this solemn silence, yet he could not find himself the strength to look her in the eye.

"…I…" Sakura peeled the pallid sheets off an inch or so only to be welcomed by the face of an unconscious Ino. Her tint of her face was but an ill interpretation of the white of the sheets. There were a few scratches scattered on her face, but nothing that would not heal itself. Sakura pulled the figure closer to her chest, careful not to further any injuries she could not see with her naked, skilled eye.

Luckily, the hushed and hurried voices of several medical assistants filled the void of silence in the room soon afterwards. They had appeared seemingly from nowhere, but Sakura was thankful none the less. One of them rushed forward with a stretcher in his arms as he broke the gap between the two friends. Sakura lost her focus on her patient as she turned to her assistant. The assistant then quickly seized Ino and placed her on the stretcher as another delicately pulled the sheets off Ino.

Sakura turned to her friend one last time with the awfully obvious question plaguing her thoughts,

'What in the world happened?'

Yet he avoided her glare, sinking into the chair beneath him as he hid his face in one hand. The other hand laid clasp against his hair, taking a firm clasp of blonde hair in between its fingers. Naruto exhaled with such exhaustion, though Sakura could sense a mixture of remorse in his gesture.

She followed her medical crew wordlessly, though did not hesitate to look back at her tormented friend. Her thoughts were masked by the voices of her assistants as they prepared the injured young nin at hand. This was such a routine. But if that were true, why did she find herself a bit shaken?

Sakura reached across the stretcher at the oxygen mask that was being offered to her. Before she could get a hold of the object there was a sudden morbid scream that rang directly into her ears. Just when Sakura could contemplate the thought of merely _shivering_ at the sound of such fear—it practically left her ear drums humming—the forceful clasp of a cold hand suddenly found itself gripping at Sakura's sleeve. That was when she screamed.

"What is that?!" Ino was suddenly brought to life, blue eyes practically _piercing_ into Sakura for answers. Sakura gasped again, hoping that her nerves would simply calm themselves. This was unlike her usual behavior when dealing with injured patients. Ino sat herself up, against the arms of the assistants that attempted to hold her down. She ignored the voices scolding her to relax and lay down. She pointed at the oxygen mask with bitter disgust as she exclaimed one last time, "Sakura, what is that?"

"Ino," Sakura bit back the urge to retort, "an oxygen mask-'_you complete and utter psycho'_." Sakura continued to follow the pace of the stretcher as they were all closing in on the ER. Ino stared back, eyes narrowing in mistrust as she pushed the oxygen mask away, harshly.

"Sakura, I don't need that. What are you, crazy?!"

Sakura widened her eyes; disbelief covered her features as she stared at her comrades for answers. One of them finally managed to blurt out, "Miss Yamanaka, this is both customary and necessary for you. You were found unconscious but a minute ago and may not have sufficient oxygen to sustain much longer." The medical-nin nodded to himself, hoping that his confidence was enough to convince the young woman in front of him.

"I'm breathing now, aren't I?" Ino shouted without taking her eyes off of her friend. "I'm fine, let me go." Though as stubborn and assertive as she wanted to give herself off as, Sakura was not oblivious to the way her voice cracked breathlessly at the end of her sarcastic query. As much as Sakura wanted to pummel her for her difficulty she was just as content to see her breathing and _active_ in the way that she was.

"You're breathing _now_, Ino." Sakura found herself playing the maternal role to the brat settled in the stretcher. It was then that they finally arrived at their destination, one of the assistance managed to flicker on the lights of the room. Finally, Sakura thought. At the very least, they were just where they needed to be.

That was when she caught a glimpse of Ino's swollen arm in front of her. Being the natural medical nin that Sakura was trained to be, she easily confirmed the thought of a fracture. What was left was to trace the original of gashes of blood in the blanket, because she knew that was not an attractive sight.

Sakura softly took a hold of Ino's forearm, flinching as the latter yelped sharply into her ear. She ran her fingers lightly on the warm skin, feeling swollen firmness beneath her fingers. Ino squirmed and grunted as Sakura touched her but otherwise remained silent. As she skimmed her digits atop of Ino's flesh, she confirmed her initial thought, deciding that it was the ulna that was fractured and not the radius. When she did pull away, she grimaced at the sight of blood that trailed down her thumb. Its warmth had her mentally cringing.

"You have a broken arm…" Sakura trailed off, "…among other things…" she glanced at the rest of Ino's form. Her assistants managed to tear at Ino's attire, her legs laid exposed in front of them all. There was another gash to take care of, from the sight of it. Thankfully, everything was only minor, at least in the eyes of Sakura. It was only a fractured ulna and a gash with a possible muscle tare. Still, Sakura could never be too sure and as skilled as she was X-rays were always better at detecting things she could not see.

Sakura smiled down at her friend, brushing back Ino's bangs. She gazed downwards; her friend appeared to unwind herself despite her brief strike of hysteria. Her behavior was to be expected; Ino did not have enough energy anyway. Sakura placed her cold palm beside Ino's forehead, ignoring the fine scratch that would leave a few drops of blood on her. The area was scorching, of course. Ino had a fever and it did not feel as though it were to settle down anytime soon.

"You are going to be just fine." Sakura exhaled deeply, content to see both her patient and herself compose at the sound of such calm words. Once she was satisfied with Ino's faint nod, she softly situated the oxygen mask onto her friend. Again, she was pleased to find her friends comply by her wishes and she could not have been smiling any more. It was then that one of her assistants handed her the pouch filled with lead. Sakura reached over to grab the pouch, but before she could even drop it on Ino's torso, the latter practically punched the thing from her hands with her left.

Ino was alive and kicking. "What the hell is that?!"

"Ino, I'm giving you an X-ray, from what I see you must have fallen and just-_perhaps_-you could have more than a fractured ulna." Sakura felt herself growing more and more impatient.

"No. No. No…Sakura, I'm fine. Just fix these fractures already." It was Ino's turn to flinch at the sudden movement of her torso. She did not realize just how much of a mess she was in until then. She placed a protective clasp, albeit a tender one, onto her forearm as she shot Sakura a careful glance. Something anxious flickered in her eyes, although Sakura would have declared it as something on the lines of usual patient anxiety, it simply looked unusual to her—it was fearful and quite secretive.

It was Sakura's turn to hesitate. The Hokage's teaching told her to follow on her procedure but her instincts told her otherwise. She sighed, pulling away from Ino as she turned to her several medical aides. "I can take it from here, thank you very much!" She smiled with gratitude at her associates, watching them carefully as they all exited the room without much of an objection. Once she heard the door behind her click with the assurance of privacy, she turned to glare curiously at Ino.

"So, what exactly are you hiding?" She hoped that her friend wouldn't drift back into unconsciousness just yet.

"What do you mean?" rouge splashed itself beneath Ino's cheeks as she continued to stare persistently at her friend.

"Ino…" a slight chuckle escaped her lips as she locked eyes with her friends once more. "You should know very well what I'm talking about. You are being trained under Tsunade-sama, are you not? What is the first thing she teaches us under your circumstances…?"

Ino sighed, rolling her head back as she let it hang towards the side. Her back rested against the soft cushions and her arm lay cautiously across her chest. She watched Sakura spill the words of her superior's wisdom and could not help but mentally scoff at her friend's ridiculously pedantic question. She had a bitter headache, a nasty shooting pain in her arm and leg, and a sudden urge to keep quiet for the rest of the night.

_Oh please, heaven above, just knock me out cold—will ya?_

It was then that the superior spirits decided to do just that as Ino felt her eyelids sluggishly droop and her focus had gone obscure.

……………………………..

It was not the fact that Sakura's return was insanely prompt for a direct to ER procedure, it was not even the fact that she sighed with that heavy exhalation like he had only imagined those with grim futures would do. She walked wordlessly towards him, dropping herself onto the seat aside from him. Her back arched as she pressed the back of her head alongside the wall as she heaved a sigh. The mask that once covered her mouth lay limply at her collarbone.

Still, she could not stifle a smile that plastered her attractive face. In another time, Naruto would have found himself turning away from her striking eyes, in another time he would have found himself practically sinking at the sight of her. But currently he remained unfazed by her gesture.

It was interesting how only over a year ago had they shared a friendly kiss underneath the moonlight.

"I guess I should have put two and two a very, _very_ long time ago." A warm hand was placed upon Naruto's shoulder. Something short of a chuckle left Sakura's lips.

Naruto flinched, he could have _sworn_ she was ready to swing a nasty blow in his direction; he could have almost taste the flavor of his own blood from his would be busted lips. It was odd, or that being the only word he could muster, but nothing came afterwards. After a moment or so he turned to see Sakura continuing to smile at him.

"I think I am missing something here…" Naruto rubbed delicately at the area where he supposed she would have punched.

"No," Sakura nodded, "You're not.

"Ino is going to be fine, actually. I think you can go check up on her right now." From her side view she witnessed his face quickly illuminate with abrupt cheerfulness she found herself happy to have spread the news. With that final note she pushed herself off the chair, slowly walking past him. She yanked at her surgeon's gloves again, making her way over to the receptionist desk. Sakura ignored the urge to turn around, to take one final glance at young man behind her.

When she did twist her neck to glance over her shoulder, there was no one to greet her, only insurance papers that swayed gently against unseen air.

………………………………….

The first thing that had Naruto flinching was the click that cracked into his ears and it had him practically startled. The room was much too silent for tolerance and the echoes of hospital equipment were by no means soothing. He took careful steps towards the sleeping figure wrapped in hospital blankets. Ino lay silent as she slept. Naruto had his eyes completely fixated on the way her chest gently raised and lowered as he dragged a chair towards her bed.

He heaved a sigh, dropping himself onto the chair; his forehead buried itself onto the hard surface of mattress as he wordlessly wondered just exactly how comfortable Ino was. His head felt completely heavy at the moment, he felt a headache brewing. He then hesitated a moment before extending his arm forward, reaching delicately for warm fingers as he entangled his digits with hers.

Everything flashed by him in only a moment: An A Rank mission, right in the middle of some unknown village they had passed, pinned inside the tree branches they happened to have hopped on. He guessed someone had left an old exploding note that was easily set off because the last thing he could remember…

He sighed again, recalling the sight of the blast, some brilliant sparks of ginger followed by wallowed dust clouds had kept his eyesight away from Ino ahead.

If it was not for the wisp of blonde hair that fell from his sight; if it was not for the figure before his eyes, he would not have had any sort of instincts tugging at his reflexes, having to fight against gravity to sink down to the ground. He luckily grabbed onto her torso before colliding with the earth.

That catch was not good enough, he thought. It was then that he felt a sudden movement of a clasped finger. He lifted his head, his eyes quickly glancing at the figure in front of him. She stirred awake, her eyes fluttering open. It was the hue of cerulean that had him pensive as he grabbed a hold of her lazy stare. He was fixed into those half-lidded pools, watching intently as the pupil drifted slowly to meet his bright blue eyes.

"Hey babe," he managed to blurt out, eyeing the cast that settled over her other arm. He squeezed the hold on her palm, a small smile forming on his lips. His eyes trailed down the faint scratches on her cheek, down onto the dried blood that had crusted onto the wrist of the hand he could not find himself letting go.

She smiled; something warm flickered past her vivid stare. She parted her lips, as though to offer him any sort of salutation, but he pushed his index finger against her smooth mouth, shushing her quietly.

"You…" Naruto shut his eyes tight, leaning forward toward the warmth that invited him so, "strange as angels," he whispered roughly; his words tickling her forehead, "dancing in the deepest oceans, twisting in the water." He lifted an eye, watching her flush silently underneath him. He smiled. "You're just like a dream."

In the end, the ring laced in her fingers was not unraveled until after that kiss, only until Naruto abruptly reached over to capture her lips and to spill the words he knew so well. It was then that she peered down at her fingers, at the gold loop that glinted against dim hospital lights. And it was then that she smiled and kissed him so.


End file.
